Dan Moilanen, of Flint, is looking to kick off "food truck culture" in Flint by opening his own business, Vehicle City Tacos. This Flint Journal file photo shows Moilanen in 2012 when he started a social bike ride in the city. Ryan Garza | MLive.com

FLINT, MI -- Dan Moilanen would like to sell you a taco, and if the city will let him, you won't even have to walk or drive to get his tacos, even downtown.

He'll drive to you.

Moilanen, 27, of Flint, and his business partner were recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the state to open his own food truck business, Vehicle City Tacos, which he said he hopes to open -- and start driving -- in May.

He hopes it leads to what he calls "food truck culture," something he experienced when he lived in Austin, Texas.

"When I lived in Austin, the food trucks would be everywhere downtown. It was just very much part of the downtown experience. You’d go out … and afterwards you’d go to a food truck, get something greasy and quick and often it would be really, really good," he said. "I thought if this was in Flint you could make a killing. If you could get on the ground floor in Flint, it could be huge."

If he pulls it off, he hopes others will start, too. Opening a food truck business is cheaper than opening a brick-and-mortar store (the $10,000 from the grant is about a third of their startup cost, he said) and he said he thinks it's a good way for young entrepreneurs to start a business.

For any naysayers, he points to the Flint Crepe Co., a coffee-and-crepe shop now located in the heart of downtown that started as the Flint Crepe Cart. Most recently, owner Robb Klaty opened his second downtown restaurant, Table and Tap.

Klaty said he never thought opening a crepe cart would lead to owning two downtown storefront eateries.

"I strongly support this. ... I think food trucks would be a great thing for downtown," he said. "I think it will add to the dynamic downtown and bring more people downtown and help everybody."

Moilanen is the club manager of Flint Local 432, an all-ages music venue
downtown, as well as a devotee of punk rock, a genre that inspires a
do-it-yourself attitude he still clings to today.

The do-it-yourself, do-it-your-way, attitude is something he said he plans to bring to his business.

"The DIY idea sprang up when you had venues, bars and other spaces that became corporatized. ...
In the punk community, there was this idea of we’re just going to do it ourselves -- house shows, small bars," Moilanen said.
"That approach can be taken to any aspect."

Doing it his own way means keeping the business as Flint-made as possible. He said he may have to go out of state for a truck, but he wants as much of the food as possible to come from Flint's farmers.

"There’s a shift that’s starting to happen toward local organic farming standpoint and I think that’s something that’s not only crucial for humanity but for the economy's wellbeing of Flint," he said. "Even if less than 5 percent of our jobs come from local agriculture, I think it’s important to support them."

It's not the first time he's tried to bring a little Austin to Flint. In 2012, he started a weekly summertime social bike ride, an attempt, he said, to increase Flint's "bike culture."

But with food trucks, there's an obstacle. The city has an ordinance that prevents food trucks from doing business in the downtown area.

Moilanen said there will still be places to do businesses -- outside factories and hospitals during shift changes, for example -- but that really wants to get downtown.

It's something Klaty had to deal with as well. When he first opened the crepe cart downtown, he was cited for violating the ordinance -- a law he said he now can't remember if he just didn't know about or didn't care about. After being cited, however, he took the cart to the Flint Farmers Market.

Moilanen said he hopes the market will be open to him after it moves downtown.

He's also trying to get the ordinance changed.

He wrote a letter to Mayor Dayne Walling, asking for some action to
be taken on the ordinance. Walling said that request is currently under review in the
legal department.

As for the mayor, he said he'd love to see some food trucks downtown.

"Successful downtowns have a variety of different venues and attractions, and food trucks would be one more reason for people to come downtown," Walling said, adding that he didn't think having food trucks would hurt existing businesses but would bring a more diverse crowd downtown.

"I think they add to downtown's attractiveness," he said.

He also said he shares Moilanen's hope that it would be a way to offer would-be entrepreneurs a cheaper option to start a business.

Klaty said he thinks Moilanen might have an uphill battle fighting the ordinance. But where Moilanen sees a battle, he also sees kids with spiky hair eying opportunity.

"It’s kind of a punk rock approach to business," he said. "Yeah, there are all these risks and yeah, there are some challenges and barriers, but I’m going to do it anyway. You can’t spend your time waiting for someone else to do it, you just have to get out there and do it yourself."

Scott
Atkinson is an entertainment reporter for the Flint Journal and can be reached
at (810) 262-0216 or at satkins1@mlive.com. You can also follow Scott on Facebook
or Twitter.